McLeod was best known for his comedies, especially those with the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields and Bob Hope.
McLeod had come from a family that had no connections to show business (his father was a clergyman).
Years later, McLeod was educated at the University of Washington. Post-graduation, he spent two years as a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Service in France during World War I.
McLeod actually started out in the film business as an animator, but learned the comedy trade at the Christie Film Co., which specialized in comedy shorts.
In the early 1930s, McLeod directed the 1931 American pre-Code black and white comedy/musical film 'Monkey Business'. featuring the Marx Brothers.'
The following year, McLeod directed another Marx Brothers feature. This was the 1932 American black pre-Code black and white comedy/musical film 'Horse Feathers'.
During this time, McLeod was one of Paramount's top directors when he shot these two early films with The Marx Brothers. Both pictures are considered among the team's best.
Two years later, McLeod directed the first film of which he is best known. This was the 1934 American black and white comedy film 'It's a Gift'. This was Fields's sixteenth sound film, and his fifth in 1934 alone.
'It's a Gift' was based from an original story by Charles Bogle (Fields), American screenwriter Jack Cunningham and American writer J.P. McEvoy.
Harold Bissonette (W.C. Fields) is the owner of a small-town grocery store, husband of a harassing wife Amelia (Kathleen Howard) and father of two spoiled children, and his customers aren't much better.
When Bissonette has the opportunity to buy an orange grove in California, he jumps at the chance to move across the country -- at the very least, to avoid an annoying insurance salesman (T. Roy Barnes). Unfortunately for him, the orange grove is not what he expected
The film contains certain routines, reprised having been honed, that Fields had developed 1915–1925.
Fields often tried to recapture on film original sketches that had been the basis of his stage success. Thus 'The Picnic', 'A Joy Ride' and most famously, 'The Back Porch', all become segments of 'It's a Gift'.
It is also one of several Paramount Pictures in which Fields contended with American child actor Baby LeRoy.
In the late 1940s, McLeod directed the 1947 American Technicolor comedy/fantasy film 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'. The film featured Danny Kaye in the titular role.
The film was based on American cartoonist, author, humorist, journalist, playwright, and celebrated James Thurber's titular 1939 fictional short story. The most famous of his stories, it appeared in the New Yorker on March 18 of that same year.
One year later, McLeod directed the second and final film of which he is best known. This was the 1948 American Technicolor Western/comedy film 'The Paleface'.
It had been co-written by American animator, cartoonist, children's writer, illustrator, screenwriter, and film director Frank Tashlin ('Artists and Models').
Calamity Jane (Jane Russell) is working undercover for the U.S. government, trying to capture a gunrunner named Terris (Robert Armstrong) in exchange for a pardon for her previous misdoings.
However, when Jane's partner is killed, she takes up with bumbling dentist "Painless" Peter Potter (Bob Hope) and passes him off as a gifted gunslinger.
When Jane is captured by a tribe of Native Americans, however, Potter finds that he actually has to play the hero that Jane has painted him to be.
Four years later, Tashlin directed its sequel with the 1952 American Technicolor Western comedy film 'Son of Paleface'. Again starring Hope and Russell, the film also featured Roy Rogers.
On February 8, 1960, McLeod received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. This was for his contributions to the motion pictures industry. The star is located on 1724 Vine Street.
The following year, (and in McLeod's later years), he was recruited by Rod Serling to direct Buster Keaton in the twenty-five-minute episode "Once Upon a Time" (S03E13).
This was for CBS' American black and white television anthology series The Twilight Zone (1959–1964). The episode had originally aired on December 15, 1961, and was penned by American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres Richard Matheson.
Among his other credits, McLeod is also known for directing 'Alice in Wonderland' (1933), 'Pennies from Heaven' (1936), 'Topper' (1937), 'There Goes My Heart' (1938), 'Merrily We Live' (1938), 'Topper Takes a Trip (1939), 'Little Men' (1940), 'Panama Hattie' (1942), 'Jackass Mail' (1942), and his last, 'Alias Jesse James' (1959).
Three years later, McLeod passed from a stroke in Hollywood, California on January 26, 1964. He was 65.
In the early 2010s, Thurber's short story was adapted into a feature for the second time. This was the 2013 American comedy/adventure drama film 'The Secret Life of Walter Miller.
The film stars Ben Stiller in the titular role, who also co-produced and directed. The film co-stars Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Sean Penn and Shirley MacLaine.
McLeod had been active from 1928–1963.
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